Thread: в кухне/на кухни

Где Анна? Она в кухне.
Где Анна? Она на кухни.

I have seen a few sentences with both "в кухне" and "на кухни". Which one is used the most. Or is one of them wrong?

предлог / На кухне или в кухне? /

Предлоги В и НА не всегда чётко разграничиваются: обедать в кухне — обедать на кухне(вариант на кухне утвердился под влиянием народной речи). Сравните в литературе: Я побежал в кухню рассказать бабушке всё, что видел и слышал(М. Горький); Нянька приходила на кухню ужинать(В. Короленко).Исп. Розенталь Д. "Говорите и пишите по-русски правильно". "Грамота.ру" употребление предлогов В и НА (кухне) объясняет, что оба варианта верны.

Лично я бы сказал: "Анна на кухне готовит обед."

I remember learning in college Russian:

(1) Always use на кухне if you're talking about cooking or eating food "in the kitchen", but

(2) Both на кухне and в кухне are correct if you want to say, for example, "The dog is sleeping in the kitchen (not in the living room)," or "The lightbulb in the kitchen (not in the bathroom) has burned out." (You are speaking of the kitchen as one room out of several rooms in the house, not as a place where food is prepared.)

(3) But when кухня has the abstract meaning "cuisine" or "style of cooking" (not "the room where food is cooked"), в should always be used: Рыбный соус -- очень важный ингредиент в тайской кухне, "Fish sauce is a very important ingredient in Thai cooking." (Here, на isn't possible.)

But I would ask a native speaker if this is correct!

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

But I would ask a native speaker if this is correct!

I think that is correct

As for Throbert's No.(3) if it's cuisine, it's always в - it's an abstract noun. В итальянской кухне, в кухне Италии.... и т.п.

На vs в - if it's на кухне it means that something/someone is in the kitchen or pertains to the kitchen,
while в кухне - implies the physical area, room (kitchen) when it's necessary to distinguish it from other areas. So на кухне is used most of the time.

A building contractor (eg building a new home) may say "В кухне надо сделать ещё один проём под окно" - Another window must be provided in the kitchen. Here в suits better as it implies the physical area of the home being built (i.e. kitchen area).

Originally Posted by George1992

Где Анна? Она в кухне.
Где Анна? Она на кухни.
I have seen a few sentences with both "в кухне" and "на кухни".

The inflexion should be -е in both cases.